530 East 13th Street Upper Unit, Fall 2007

It took multiple semesters of design, demolition, and construction for the Over-the-Rhine DesignBuild Studio to complete the upper unit at 530 East 13th Street in Fall 2007. What was once a building for many tenants (with shared toilets in the stairway landings) is now a duplex with spacious units to house extended families. Students worked directly with plumbers, mechanical engineers, HVAC contractors, master electrician Lee Stultz, lead contractor Tom Brausch, and a team of neighborhood-based construction trainees.
In addition to remedial tasks of making the stairway fire-code compliant, sanding and refinishing the wide-plank pine floors and installing insulation and drywall, students detailed and built cabinets, concrete kitchen countertops and bathroom vanities, and a concrete and maple bar that divides the kitchen from the living room. (Thanks to Ross Selmeier for assistance with CNC and formwork and High Concrete Group in Springboro, Ohio for concrete mix and pouring).